Sylvain Gagnetau Lago

Radio Yopougon

May 8, 2011, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast

The
bullet-riddled body of Lago, 30, assistant editor-in-chief of Radio
Yopougon, a community station, was found
in a mass gravein
Yopougon, the largest neighborhood in Abidjan and a stronghold of former
president Laurent Gbagbo, according to the Ivorian Committee for the Protection
of Journalists and CPJ sources.

Yopougon
was a battleground between Gbagbo fighters and the Republican
Forces of the Ivory Coast that had allied with presidential rival Alassane Ouattara
during a five-month struggle
for power following the disputed November 2010 election. The Republican
Forces (known by the French acronym FRCI) ransacked Lago's station after
seizing Yopougon in May, a month after ousting Gbagbo with the backing of
French forces, the Ivorian journalist group said. Radio Yopougon was known for
backing Gbagbo.

FRCI fighters publicly executed
Lago and four other people accused of being Gbagbo militiamen on May 8,
according to two eyewitnesses to the killing who spoke to CPJ on condition of
anonymity for fear of reprisal. About 35 FRCI fighters aboard 4-by-4 trucks
raided Lago's home that day and forced him and five other men to kneel on the
street at gunpoint under interrogation, according to the witnesses whose
accounts were broadly corroborated by local journalists. The fifth man managed
to escape, but the fighters opened fire on Lago and four others before driving
away, the witnesses said. When the fighters returned later to find the journalist
still alive, they killed him, the witnesses said.

Local
journalists told CPJ that Lago was known for his moderation. He had worked for
both pro-Ouattara and pro-Gbagbo media outlets. A father of
two, he was the secretary-general of the Organization of Professional
Journalists of Ivory Coast.

CPJ has
concluded that FRCI forces targeted Lago because of his public profile as a
journalist with a media outlet whose management was favorable to Gbagbo. The
Ouattara government has made no arrests in the murder.